- The document discusses institutional repositories and open archives in Algerian universities and research centers. - It identifies some universities in Algeria that have implemented institutional repositories, including the University of Boumerdes, University of Tlemcen, and University of Science and Technology of Oran. However, many university websites were inaccessible. - The repositories contain a variety of academic works like theses, articles, books and other research. The largest is CERIST Digital Library with over 500 items. - Strategies are needed to further develop institutional repositories in Algerian universities to maximize access to and sharing of research.

1. Institutional Repositories and Open
Archives in the Algerian Universities and
Research Centers
By Hakim Benoumelghar
Lecturer/Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-Ouzou
The 14th ILDS Conference
Ressource Sharing at the Crossroads
1-3 October 2015, Istanbul

2. Introduction
• The launch in 1999 of the Open Access Initiative
(OAI) and metadata sharing protocol, OAI-PMH,
alongside the provision of deposit platforms,
open source software, such as DSpace in 2002,
which allow libraries to develop digital
repositories and play a leading role in the open
access movement, and by establishing
institutional open archives alongside the
thematic archives offered by scientific
communities.
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3. In the same year, the libraries of the University
of Michigan implement OAIster, a search engine
to query virtually all active archives in the world.
In 2003, the libraries of the University of Lund,
Sweden, open the Directory of Open Access
Journals (DOAJ) followed by the Directory of
Open Access Books (DOAB) and Directory of
Open Access Repositories (DOAR). The free
access to publications and research continues to
increase and spread throughout the world.
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4. Originally the current open archive projects concern the English-
speaking scientists. Anxious to take advantage of opportunities
offered by the Internet to develop the dissemination of scientific
information, they created the first online archive databases.
“Paul Ginsparg designed in 1991 in the laboratory of Los Alamos
basic pre- and post-prints of physical items, computing and
mathematics, arXiv.org. In the UK, Stevan Harnad, a little later,
developed a digital repository of publications in psychology and
neuroscience, hosted by the University of Southampton,
Cogprint. The British academic is also the source of software to
the online self-archiving by scientists of their production,
e-print.org”
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5. Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation (DINI), coordinates
cooperation between institutions and implement
recommendations and common standards and sets up a working
group on electronic publications which provides technical
support to the establishment and development of an open
archive. In 2003, the DINI created a "Certificate for
Documentation and Publication Services in order to improve the
quality of archiving of digital documents and encourage the
creation of institutional open archives.
The certificate imposes certain obligations for interoperability
and sustainability archive storage, such as the use of Dublin Core
metadata, persistent identifiers. In 2010, German DINI had 149
open archives (including 147 institutional archives)
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6. Finally, in Great Britain, institutions of research and higher
education teamed up to promote institutional open archives
within the SHERPA consortium, whose governance is ensured at
the University of Nottingham. “Around an original core of seven
partner institutions met in 2002, SHERPA federated new
establishments during the first phase of the project which ran
until 2006: 33 institutions have come together to support
institutional open archives their networking,
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7. - This communication aims to clarify the open archives and
institutional repositories set up by Algerian universities
and research centers,
- This contribution also pursues the aim to review the project
ISTeMag Optimizing Access to Scientific and Technical Information
in Maghreb Universities. The project objective is, among others,
to: "Define and implement an institutional policy of open archives.
“
The objective of this communication
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8. Our main objectives are:
• Make an inventory of open archives and institutional
repositories set up in Algeria;
• Identify the characteristics of open archives and
Algerian institutional repositories;
• Propose institutional repositories development
strategies in Algerian universities and research centers.
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9. To achieve these goals, we intend to answer the following
research questions:
1. What are the institutions involved in the implementation
process and management of institutional repositories and
open archives in Algeria?
2. What are the main characteristics of open archives and
Algerian institutional repositories?
3. How Algerian universities and research centers can benefit
from the establishment of institutional digital repositories?
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10. To answer questions of this research we analyze the
websites of the Algerian institutions of higher
education and scientific research with the aim to
identify experiences in the field of free access to the
academic work produced by communities of these
establishments. Finally, we conclude this paper with
some reflections and proposals for generalization
and good management of institutional repositories
in the Algerian universities.
Methodology:
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11. Algiers: CERIST Digital Library (DL CERIST) is the institutional
repository of the Research Centre on Scientific and Technical
Information. It provides access to all the production of
CERIST: conference papers, technical reports or research,
theses, course materials, etc.
To access CERIST DL: http://dl.cerist.dz
This digital library contains several collections:
471 scientific articles
84 theses,
22 academic books
ISTeMAG Project
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12. Boumerdes: Institutional Repository of the M'Hamed Bougara
University of Boumerdes (UMBB)
The institutional repository of the University of Boumerdes is a digital
archive comprised of scientific production of the University. Created
using the DSpace software that manages, maintains and provides
academic work of UMBB.
Available at: http://dlibrary.univ-boumerdes.dz
This deposit contains multiple and diverse collections:
- 30 acts of congresses and conferences;
- 27 monographs, including two in the form of courses;
- 607 articles and scientific papers in national and international
journals and symposia;
- 01 review;
- 615 doctoral theses and magister dissertations
Research in this deposit could be done by collection type, publication
date, author, title or subject.
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13. Tlemcen: The institutional repository of the Abu Bakr Belkaid
University of Tlemcen is accessible via the address:
http://dspace.univ-tlemcen.dz/ created under the DSpace
software. The educational departments of the University are
represented and a collection of publications and research of the
scientific community.
Batna: The website of the University of Batna http://www.univ-
batna.dz/index.php/en/ was inaccessible at the time of our visit
(May 2015).
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14. For other universities include few universities that have implemented
an institutional repository as:
The University of Science and Technology of Oran: Accessible via the
web at: http://dspace.univ-usto.dz/handle/123456789/144, it includes
postgraduate theses managed by the DSpace software in seven
scientific fields which could be done by the search for documents:
Architecture and Civil Engineering
Chemistry
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Mathematics and Computer
Physics
Natural Sciences and Life
Also the research can be done by author, name, title, subject or date of
defense (from 2011 to 2015). Theses are available in their full texts.
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15. University of Medea: Digital repository contains the bachelor
dissertations and search can be done by various criteria.
http://www.univ-medea.dz/bibth/opac/
University of Oum El Bouaghi: In this deposit http://www.univ-oeb.dz/
available through the website, there are educational books and
scientific articles published by teachers / researcher of the university
University of Guelma: The institutional repository contains the
scientific production of the community of teachers and researchers
from 2006 to 2014. It is available at: http://www.univ-
guelma.dzproductions- Scientific Publications-Communications
Institutional Deposit of Ferhat ABBAS University - Setif 1: available at:
http://dspace.univ-setif.dz:8888/jspui/ it contains the master
memories, magister and doctoral theses presented in this university.
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16. University of Mostaganem: The digital repository of the
university is accessible via the address: http://www.univ-
mosta.dz/index.php/k2/k2-layout-2.
It includes the scientific production of research laboratories
distributed by faculty.
- Faculty of Exact Sciences and Informatics
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Life
- Faculty of Science and Technology
- Faculty of Law and Political Science
- Faculty of Economics, Trade and Management Sciences
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Faculty of Humanities and Arts
- Institute of Sports and Physical Education
- Faculty of Medicine.
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17. The High School of Trade: Digital repository accessible via the
address: http://www.esc-alger.dz/index.php/fr/production-
scientifique/contributions-enseignants contains teachers'
contributions (courses, books chapters, exercises and corrected
examinations and magister memories).
Also we note that some universities have set up institutional
repository but remain to this day unpowered like the University
of Bouira (or at: http://www.univ-bouira.dz/fr/index.php/2012-
11-30-17-24-07 / 2014-08-02-09-52-45 / 2014-08-02-09-59-31)
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18. The other university websites were inaccessible for several days as :
Djelfa (http://www.univ-djelfa.dz/) ,
Ghardaia (http://www.univ-ghardaia.dz/ar/),
Jijel (http://www.univ-jijel.dz/) ,
Tebessa (http://www.univ-tebessa.dz/),
El Tarf (http://www.univ-eltarf.dz/),
Khenchela (http://www.univ-khenchela.dz/),
El Oued (http://www.univ-eloued.dz/),
Souk Ahras (http://www.univ-soukahras.dz/fr/),
Annaba (http://www.univ-annaba.dz/),
Skikda (http://www.univ-skikda.dz/),
Biskra (http://www.univ-biskra.dz/) ,
M'Sila (http://www.univ-msila.dz/umvfr/)
Ouargla (http://www.univ-ouargla.dz/index.php/fr/) and this is also
the case for the University of Constantine 2 and the Universities of
Tiaret and Blida.
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19. The research centers, besides the one mentioned above (CERIST), the
Centre for Scientific and Technical Welding and Control (CSC) makes
accessible references and summaries of several types of documents
(publications, theses, papers and dissertations) through the web address:
http://www.csc.dz/documentations-manifestations-csc.php?idlangue=2
This is also the case with Technology Research Center Semiconductors
for Energy (http://www.crtse.dz/index.php/fr/ but also allows access to
the full text for authorized users (by assigning an access by password).
We can conclude from above that institutional repositories and open
archives are rarely developed in Algerian scientific institutions and the
access for is not always allowed for everyone.
Open archives in Algerian research centers
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20. Therefore, promoting open access to scientific production
can be realized by adopting a National Policy for Open Access
to STI, based on solid and reliable foundation. For this, it is
useful to take the following actions:
- Massively draw Algerian scientific institutions attention to
join the universal movement for open access by building
institutional repositories;
- Establish the policy of the institutional archives to
familiarize researchers and Algerian university teachers to
use and consultation of open archives;
Development prospects of open archives in Algeria
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21. - Increase training workshops on open archives for researchers,
librarians and computer scientists in order to build in each
institution digital repository for intellectual production of her
community;
- Promote the emergence of a maximum of conferences to
broaden and involve all actors of this movement in order to
facilitate the access for scientific publications and works.
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22. Thank you
Questions?
hakim_benoumelghar@yahoo.fr
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23. Thank you for your attention
hakim_benoumelghar@yahoo.fr
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